A slogan solution to Oakland’s bloody reputation:...

2of4Loeshe Adanma Lacy was 16 years old when she was shot to death in Oakland in October 1997. Loeshe means “love life” in a Nigerian language, and Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElheney wants the city to adopt “love life” as its motto.Photo: COPY

3of4Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney, at a 2014 rally, listens as speakers read a list of black lives lost.Photo: Tim Hussin, Special to The Chronicle

4of4Donald Lacy, whose daughter was slain while sitting in a van, started the LoveLife Foundation.Photo: Chris Stewart, SFC

In an effort to change Oakland’s reputation as the state’s murder capital, City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney is pressing her fellow council members to adopt “Love Life” as the city’s official motto.

“‘Love Life’ is the most altruistic aspiration of our better selves,” McElhaney said.

She wants the two-word mantra to peace added to the “Welcome to Oakland” signs that greet visitors entering the city by plane, train or car.

It all goes back to Oct. 20, 1997, when four masked assailants walked up to a van parked across from Oakland’s McClymonds High School and let loose with a spray of bullets, killing 16-year-old LoEshé Adanma Lacy in the backseat.

Prosecutors believed the shots were meant for the driver and may have stemmed from a gang turf dispute.

The name LoEshé means “love life” in a Nigerian language — and after her death, her father, actor and standup comic Donald Lacy, established the LoveLife Foundation to promote life and saving lives.

In 2000, the foundation’s efforts were recognized with a City Council resolution proclaiming “Love Life Week.” But, aside from putting out a handful of public service announcements and producing a play dealing with violence, the foundation has largely languished in recent years.

Lacy and his childhood friend Dwain Butler have continued to press the city to make “Love Life” the city’s motto.

The idea fell mostly on deaf ears until recently, when McElhaney saw it as a chance to help rebrand the city and give it a new mission statement.

“This is one of the most violent cities per capita in the country, and we are actively working to change it,” McElhaney said. “What this would do is signal to people that we want to see ourselves as a city of love. ... It really codifies what Oakland is all about.”

Not everyone on the council has embraced the idea — particularly after a city administrator’s report estimated the cost of installing the new signs at $21,000. Putting stickers on existing signs would cost about $4,600.

The staff report also said the proposed signs might be a distraction for drivers.

Lacy tells us he’s frustrated by the bureaucratic and political delays, and blamed Councilmen Dan Kalb and Abel Guillén for temporarily shelving the proposal so the city staff can study it further.

“I can only conjecture why, but I’m sure race played a part of it,” Lacy said. Lacy is black, Kalb is white and Guillén is Latino.

“There is a sensitivity to not wanting to be known as Murderville — and I know I was one of those” who felt that way, she said. “But now I think of (the “Love Life” slogan) as a way to take from these tragic losses, which are in the thousands, and to build to a better place.”

As for what Mayor Libby Schaaf thinks about the idea?

Well, after skeptically rolling her eyes and pausing to reflect, she replied: “My love life is fine.”

Museum executive Jay Xu said the planned 12,000-square-foot exhibition space will allow the museum to host “larger and more engaging shows.”

But the real play is enticing donors to contribute to the Asian Art’s relatively small $30 million endowment — money that Xu hopes will put the museum “on a much sounder financial footing.”

Back in 2010, the city — which contributes $8.3 million annually to help operate the museum — had to step in to help restructure a major bank loan to keep the nonprofit operation from going into default and saddling taxpayers with even more costs.

Last year, the museum had 207,000 paid admissions — up 52,000 from fiscal 2010-11. But museum reps tell us that admissions cover only a fraction of the Asian Art’s expenses, making donor support all the more important.

It’s worth noting that the museum’s 26-member commission and 47-member foundation board have no shortage of financial muscle — chairing both is Akiko Yamazaki, the wife of Yahoo’s billionaire co-founder Jerry Yang.

And finally: When it comes to fun — and fundraising — nobody beats state Board of Equalization member and former Assemblywoman Fiona Ma.

On Friday night, she hosted a 50th birthday party for herself at the Castro Theatre — where her many guests paid, yes, $50 a head to dress up in ’50s-style fashion for a singalong to the musical “Grease.”

And speaking of fundraising, Supervisor Norman Yee has just sent out a “save the date” notice for his $100-a-head re-election kickoff dinner on April 7 at the New Asia Restaurant in Chinatown — which happens to be in District Three, across town from Yee’s District Seven.

Why not celebrate in his own neighborhood?

“There is no restaurant in District Seven to accommodate 400 people,” Yee said.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross

Whether writing about politics or personalities, Phil Matier has informed and entertained readers for more than two decades about the always fascinating Bay Area and beyond. The blend of scoops, insights and investigative reporting can be found every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday in the Chronicle.